The Rarest Animal Of All

PUSHMI-PULLYUS are now extinct. That means, there aren't
any more. But long ago, when Doctor Dolittle was alive,
there were some of them still left in the deepest jungles
of Africa; and even then they were very, very scarce.
They had no tail, *but a head at each end,
and sharp horns on each head. They were very
shy and terribly hard to catch. The black men
get most of their animals by sneaking up behind
them while they are not looking. But you could
not do this with the pushmi-pullyu--because,
no matter which way you came towards him, he
was always facing you. And besides, only one
half of him slept at a time. The other head
was always awake--and watching. This was
why they were never caught and never seen in
Zoos. Though many of the greatest huntsmen
and the cleverest menagerie-keepers spent years
of their lives searching through the jungles
in all weathers for pushmi-pullyus, not a single
one had ever been caught. Even then, years
ago, he was the only animal in the world with
two heads.

Well, the monkeys set out hunting for this
animal through the forest. And after they had
gone a good many miles, one of them found
peculiar footprints near the edge of a river;
and they knew that a pushmi-pullyu must be
very near that spot.

Then they went along the bank of the river
a little way and they saw a place where the
grass was high and thick; and they guessed that
he was in there.

So they all joined hands and made a great
circle round the high grass. The pushmi-pullyu
heard them coming; and he tried hard
to break through the ring of monkeys. But he
couldn't do it. When he saw that it was no
use trying to escape, he sat down and waited to
see what they wanted.

They asked him if he would go with Doctor Dolittle
and be put on show in the Land of the White Men.

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But he shook both his heads hard and said,
"Certainly not!"

They explained to him that he would not be
shut up in a menagerie but would just be looked
at. They told him that the Doctor was a very
kind man but hadn't any money; and people
would pay to see a two-headed animal and the
Doctor would get rich and could pay for the
boat he had borrowed to come to Africa in.

But he answered, "No. You know how shy
I am--I hate being stared at." And he almost
began to cry.

Then for three days they tried to persuade
him.

And at the end of the third day he said he
would come with them and see what kind of a
man the Doctor was, first.

So the monkeys traveled back with the
pushmi-pullyu. And when they came to where
the Doctor's little house of grass was, they
knocked on the door.

The duck, who was packing the trunk, said,
"Come in!"

And Chee-Chee very proudly took the animal
inside and showed him to the Doctor.

"What in the world is it?" asked John
Dolittle, gazing at the strange creature.

"Lord save us!" cried the duck. "How does
it make up its mind?"

"It doesn't look to me as though it had any,"
said Jip, the dog.

"This, Doctor," said Chee-Chee, "is the
pushmi-pullyu--the rarest animal of the African
jungles, the only two-headed beast in the
world! Take him home with you and your
fortune's made. People will pay any money to
see him."